PENNSVILLE TWP. -- While fishing early Saturday morning near Game Creek in Deepwater, Ted Huntley of the White Oaks Mobile Park had quite the unusual catch.

"I pulled it out. I hadn't seen this fish before ... it surprised the heck out of me," said Huntley, 56. "I figured someone would have interest in it, so I called (New Jersey Department of) Fish and Wildlife (NJFW)."

Ted Huntley holds up a bowfin fish that he caught recently. Huntley originally thought the fish to be a snakehead, but was confirmed to be a bowfin by New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The fish, black-and-green striped, was approximately 12-inches long and weighed no more than a pound, but had freakish features. The fish had sharp teeth, a thin, slimy body, and what appeared to Huntley to be snake skin instead of scales.

Huntley at the time believed he recognized the fish from a recent "In-Fisherman" magazine. In the recent issue of the magazine, there was an article about the infestation of the snakehead fish population to the United States.

The snakehead, named for its resemblance to the reptile, which is native to South East Asia, since 2002 has rapidly become a devastating nuisance in
other parts of the country including Pennsylvania and Maryland. No cases have been reported here.

According to a NJFW Spokesman Jim Sciascia, the fish was not a snakehead.

It was instead a bowfin.

"The bowfin is common to the region, but does not usually get caught," said Sciascia. "It has been a while since the last documented catch of one though ... but it's not a threat."

Like the snakehead, the bowfin also exhibits characteristics of a snake and has similar basic features.